Is it really a sleepover . . .

Is it really a sleepover if no one actually sleeps?

We had birthday parties galore this weekend, one a bit late, and one a bit early.

KC celebrated her 11th birthday party with a swimming/scrapbook/sleepover. She had 6 girls over and they had a blast.

First the swimming:



Then we had pizza and cupcakes and ice cream (I love the way they use cupcakes to make a single cake-like-object, although I'm not 100% what this is - a bone, maybe?)



Once the sun had started to set, they retired upstairs to begin scrapbooking:



A few brief Oreo and milk breaks later,



they decided it was time to open presents:


After that there was more scrapbooking, video watching, running about, and lots and lots of giggling and screaming. I fell asleep around 11, so I'm not sure how late the girls were up. Brady said he turned off his video game to go to sleep close to 2am and they were still going strong (he's not usually allowed to stay up that late, but it seemed pointless to ask him to sleep in the middle of the chaos). Abby woke up at around 7:30am and KC wandered down with a couple of girls at around 8:30am. They ate Cinnamon rolls and cereal and swam for a while until they all left at around 10:30am.

One down, one to go.

Abby's birthday is actually July 23rd, but for the past 2 years we've been so caught up with baseball that we never got around to having a real party for her. This year, the Warriors are going to be playing in the USSSA World Series July 20-27th, so it was going to be another tight fit to get a 9th birthday party in for the littlest one. It was actually Abby's idea to have a party at the beginning of the summer instead of the end. We decided to go for it!

She opted for a girl party at Club Libby Lu at the mall.

First the girls get to dress up in tween splendor and get a makeover:



Once fully made over into pre-teen beauty queens:


They have a dance party/fashion runway show!


They had such a good time dancing to all kinds of music, there was actually a crowd outside the store watching and dancing along. It was quite a show (the girls had a blast).

After the dance party, we moved to the food court for cookie cake and presents.



Both the girls had a great time, but now the parties are done, and it's on to baseball!!

The 13-year-old All Stars begin play in about 30 minutes! Summer is officially starting!!

KC's Awards

The fifth grade awards ceremony was held this morning, and KC received awards for Texas Reader's Club, Honor Roll, and she was selected by her teacher for the Outstanding Citizen (female) award for her class.



Good job!!

Flying into the end of the school year

June is here and we are flying into the end of the school year. Maybe skidding into it would be a better description. Quick updates:

Brady had his spring band concert. They were wonderful! Brady was selected as one of two Outstanding 7th Grade Band students (he does not get one bit of that talent from me!).

He was also selected to the MCLL 13-year-old All Star Team!

The other team he plays for, the MCLL Warriors, played in a qualifying tournament in College Station last weekend, and they won!

Here's Brady sliding into home on a wild pitch:


Here are the beautiful Warrior sisters waiting for the game to start.

KC and Abby are so good about keeping an eye on the little ones. :-)



Here are the winners! Their win means they qualified for the USSSA World Series in July to be held in Grand Prairie, Texas (couldn't they have chosen some scenic locale? Aspen? San Diego? How does one choose Grand Prairie? Oh well).

KC had her 5th grade graduation pool party last weekend (before the trip to College Station). She had a blast!



The funny thing is that Bill shot that picture from outside the fence with a telephoto lens (he has a real future as a paparazzo). She isn't even posing, she's just naturally cool, I suppose. LOL

Tomorrow is her 5th grade awards ceremony, which I am hoping to attend, but right now Abby is running a fever so all bets may be off.

School is crazy busy this time of year! Hope you are all well wherever you are! Graduation is Friday, but they've already asked me to work Monday and Wednesday of next week. Should be quite a summer. :-)

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful, Memorial Day weekend. We had to get away for a couple of days (I have so much to do at home, which is exactly why I needed to get away for a couple of days). I think I slept about 30 hours in 3 days, which I really, really needed.

On Saturday we went to Fiesta Texas! The water park was open this weekend. It was extremely crowded, but we still had a good time. We took pictures, but they are on an old-fashioned water camera, so we won't actually have them until we finish the roll and get it developed (how quickly do we become spoiled by the digital world we live in?

On Sunday we went shopping for KC's birthday. She shopped at Old Navy, Justice, and American Eagle Outfitters. Boy do they grow up fast! We also managed to get new shoes for Abby (Sketchers) and Brady (Nike). Decent sales on both, so I was very happy. Then Bill grilled steak for dinner and I watched a few episodes of House, MD from the DVD I got for Mother's Day. I am quickly becoming addicted to House reruns. It has to be one of the best written shows on television.

Monday was time for cleaning up and the drive home. Now everyone is scrambling to finish the homework they forgot they had, and I am trying to catch up on all the things I ran away from over the weekend (mostly laundry). We have two weeks left of school (last year, we were finished before Memorial Day). Hope the kids and teachers don't go crazy over the next 2 weeks!


On a different note, in honor of Memorial Day, I would like to thank all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. We must always remember that freedom isn't really free. You and your families have paid the price for all of us, and we are eternally grateful. God Bless you and your families today and every day. Thank you.

Katherine Carol turns 11!

Little KC is turning 11. I brought lunch and cupcakes to her school yesterday to celebrate, which reminded me why I teach high school, not elementary. Actually, her class was very well behaved. I had to fill out a form for the child nutrition office about the cupcakes (where was I bringing them? why was I bringing them? where did I buy them?) and put the ingredient label onto the form. Unreal. Because we all know that childhood obesity is largely due to birthday cupcakes at school, rather than hours spent playing video games and eating meals from a drive-through window. Ahem.

Here is KC with her fifth grade class at lunch:



And here is the birthday girl sharing the cupcakes in question with her class:



I managed to save one cupcake for my littlest cupcake, who BTW just got her ears pierced last week:



Anyway, after grumbling a bit that KC should be celebrating me since I'm the one who did all the work 11 years ago (which she reminded me was the purpose of Mother's day), I tried to really look at her and see her as an 11 year old. I think moms tend to keep memories of our children in our heads, young and beautiful (for which I am grateful to my mother). But when I really looked at her, I saw that in many ways she is even more beautiful than I realized. KC has a strong spirit . . . she always has.

The day she arrived, way back in 1997, she stopped breathing and they had to put her on a ventilator. We were so afraid we would lose her. I can remember going into the NICU to see my giant baby (she was 8 lbs 6 oz, in a world of preemies) and thinking how tiny and vulnerable she looked. But she was a fighter right from the start. They had to put tiny restraints on her arms to keep her from pulling the wires and tubes out, and she'd try to crawl away from the oxygen tent to mount her escape. Once we were allowed to hold her, she was the most gentle, calm baby. As long as we didn't stick any needles or tubes in her, she was content to just be.

I think that's one of the things I admire most about KC. She has the strength to just be. It's not that important to her what anyone else thinks about her. She is who she is, and I love that about her. She was born an old soul, and I think it gives her a serenity and peace that I admire (and envy). It's as if she stared fate in the face right out of the gate and won, and every subsequent day is a gift. It certainly is to me. She is truly a gift from God, and I am thankful that on May 20, 1997, He gave me my beautiful, graceful, beloved Katherine Carol.

Happy birthday, KitCat! I love you!

Where has May gone?

It's May 21st? Really? Where has the month gone?

It seems like only yesterday that we celebrated Mother's day. We had a nice lunch with my mom, Jill and Sierra . . .



then a nice dinner with Bill's mom in Lake Jackson.

Bill and the kids bought me a cookie cake and an exercise bicycle, which really is a mixed message when you think about it . . .



We had baseball playoffs. The Juniors Astros lost the opener, won the second, then dropped the third to a team I really, really wanted to beat. Long story. Anyway, that finished off spring ball and last weekend.

KC had auditions for the dance company, and she did a wonderful job, and earned her spot on the junior company for another year. They are a great group of girls, and I'm really happy for her!

Brady's select ball team is going to be coached by Woody Williams (the former Astros pitcher) for the next six weeks or so, up until the state tournament at the end of June or through the World series in July if they win a spot. Coach Williams runs a tight ship, and the boys will have to undergo strength and conditioning workouts along with their baseball workouts. Cut back on the fried food and soda, and lots of running. Brady won't lose any weight (I hope) but he might gain some muscle, so we'll see.

KC had a choir concert at school. It had a western theme, and I got a front row seat because Bill had volunteered to help on a Saturday with scenery and making stick horses. Very nice show and the stick horses looked great.



Where does the time go? Tonight is the team party for spring ball, then I can officially retire from Team Mom duties forever. Bill and I made a DVD with pictures and some video from the season. We're happy with it, but it ate up lots of free time. Actually, that was kind of the whole theme with spring ball. Fun, but lots of time.

June will be here before I turn around!

On another note, today is May 21st, so it's been five years since Bill's brother JoJo passed away. Joe - if you can read this in heaven, we still miss you and think about you often. Thanks for watching over the kiddos.

Recitals and Ball Games - Oh, my!

Howdy! It's been a busy couple of weeks getting ready for a very busy weekend!

We started the weekend with not one . . .



But two Warriors games on Friday night. This guy should never have tried to steal. Brady has him by 3 steps . . .



They won both games, which meant playoffs on Sunday! Yikes.

Then, on Saturday, we had a Spring Ball game:



He looks sad in the dugout, but he's just hit a long fly ball to center that went right to the center fielder. Great swing, just in the wrong place. We lost that game, and he looked sad when that happened, too.

Saturday night, Abby has a fever of 101.5, and the recital is Sunday. Quick trip to the emergency room. A prescription for antibiotics later, she's ready to go.

Sunday is the recital. First things first, Brady has his playoff game. Bill didn't even take the camera just in case he didn't get home before the recital. They lost, so no worries about Brady missing the recital!

Recital time! First up are awards! KC got her 8 year award (and she's not quite 11 yet, three more weeks!), and her teacher, Miss Katie, selected her as Most Improved Dancer!!



Now for the dances. Count along with me . . .

Opening number (Summertime! from HSM2). Both girls were in this one:



Dance 2: KC's jazz (Ease on down the road)



Dance 3: Abby's tap (Louisiana Bayou)



Dance 4: KC's tap (Bright side of the road)



Dance 5: Abby's ballet (Butterflies)



Dance 6: KC's ballet (Caribbean Blue). She was so good in this one, I was in tears just watching:



Dance 7: Abby's jazz (Poison Ivy). Laughed out loud to this one, she was so cute!



Dance 8: KC's competition jazz (same one from Lafayette in February - Rhythm bandits)



Wow, am I exhausted. All in all, the girls were wonderful, Brady played well in baseball, and Nana and Grampy were there for the whole recital, plus the Astros game.



Abby's still sick, so we're going to stay home tomorrow. I may need the rest more than she does! :-)

Happy Birthday, Jodi! We're thinking about you!